Dr. Christian Hübner, Director KAS RECAP, and Simon Ng, Chief Executive Officer of BEC, kicked off the one-and-a-half day event in BEC’s event venue with opening remarks emphasizing the challenges as well as opportunities for sustainable innovations emerging from and in cities and urban living environments. After a key note presentation on city cluster development and its impacts on sustainable development in the People’s Republic of China, the first day was then marked by three thematic blocks on Recycling and Waste Management, Efficiency in the building sector and Sustainable mobility. In each session, experts provided impulse presentations on relevant developments in the Asia Pacific region. A subsequent expert commentary consolidated the findings and insights, preparing the floor for group discussions.
Throughput the day, the underlying theme and focus was on how technology and innovation can work as a catalyst for sustainability in urban environments. Regarding Recycling, that included for example a detailed look at how R&D outputs can be utilized in promoting circular economy and efficient waste management. In the field of efficiency in the building sector, a case study from Indonesia presented policy and implementation challenges when it comes to energy efficiency. Followed by a presentation by the Head of System Development of the Hong Kong BEAM Society, the participants learned about Hong Kong certification standards for Green buildings and how technology and data can help to rethink and establish Green building certification as a comprehensive ecosystem.
Data and policy was also the focus in the third session on Sustainable mobility. The current status of hydrogen policies in East Asian cities, namely in Japan, South Korea and China was analyzed. In the second impulse presentation Southeast and Central Asian countries were compared with regards to decarbonisation attempts in the urban mobility sector.
The morning session on the following day was held at the German Chamber of Commerce office. The participants heard a key note presentation on urban sustainability in Singapore and the city’s development in recent years. Followed by a commentary, it provided the basis for the following group discussion which saw participants actively engage discussing chances and challenges of sustainable urban development in the Asia Pacific region.
